They're B-a-a-a-a-ck

Remember last Spring's interminable Pittsblog angst over the emergent Cupcake Class? Of course you do. (If for some reason that series of posts has been purged from your memory, here's a link to the Post-Gazette piece that capped the whole thing.)

Today, no less an authority than The New York Times anointed cupcakes as a national wedge issue. Should cupcakes be banned from schools? On the one hand:

"While the merits of banning goodie bags filled with Reese’s and Skittles seem obvious — especially at a time when the risk of childhood diabetes is high for American children — many parents draw the line at cupcakes.

This could have something to do with the fact that in the modern age, the cupcake may be more American than apple pie — “because nobody is baking apple pies,” Professor Nestle explained.

The confection is so powerfully embedded in the national consciousness — and palate — that its future is quite possibly the only cause to unite Texas Republicans and at least some left-wing foodies behind a singular mission: keep the cupcake safe from harm."

and on the other hand:

"Can the cupcake loyalist support the sale of a chocolate Guinness cupcake with green-tea cream-cheese frosting? Has the cupcake been stolen from the people by the baking aristocracy?

For a sense of how charged the subject is, consider what happened in July, when Magnolia Bakery, having vaulted to fad status by an appearance on “Sex and the City,” was briefly shut down by the city health department for not having enough sinks at its Greenwich Village establishment.

“At last!” said a blogger posting on Eater.com. “We neighbors get relief from cupcakistas who don’t realize Duncan Hines makes better-tasting cupcakes.”

After a long debate thread, another blogger wrote, “You people need to go back to the suburbs ... Seriously, bunch of grown up New York City residents obsessing over a cupcake shop. I miss the gunfire and crackheads.”

Cupcakistas? That's a fighting word. Aux armes, members of the Cupcake Class! Your access to frivolous, overpriced, American-as-apple-pie, comfort food confections is in jeopardy!

Bilbao, the Pittsburgh of Spain

Joel sent me a pointer to this New York Times story about the tourist boom in Bilbao, "the Pittsburgh of Spain," that followed construction of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum.

Joel didn't add a comment, perhaps inviting me to decide whether or not the Guggenheim has been a good thing for Bilbao and, by extension, whether or not a similar signature piece of architecture could do the same for Pittsburgh.

It appears that the Guggenheim has been a mixed blessing for Bilbao as a whole. Now that a million visitors a year come on a Gehry pilgrimage:

A tangle of construction cranes today rises over the city's terra-cotta rooftops, but the changes are already apparent at the street level. Bilbao, a muscular town of steelworkers and engineers, is slowly becoming a more effete city of hotel clerks and art collectors. . . .

The cleaner water, however, hasn't necessarily brought more tourists upriver. Despite a host of tourist information centers, including a glass shed outside the Guggenheim staffed with professional guides and a rainbow of color brochures, Bilbao remains very much a one-attraction town. . . .

No wonder many guidebooks still devote as many pages to the Guggenheim — reprinting floor plans, offering tips and expounding on the museum's design — as they do the rest of Bilbao. On paper at least, Bilbao seems to have it all: world-class museum, fine Basque cuisine, a rollicking night life and lots of shopping. But like the new bike paths that were rarely used during my visit, the city lacks the critical mass of attractions to take it from a provincial post-industrial town, to a global cosmopolitan city. And in the meantime, it is losing the shabby edge that gave the city its earlier appeal.

The concentration of first-rate architecture is astounding, even without Gehry's titanium masterpiece. But architecture alone does not a city make. Bilbao is all dressed-up, but hasn't figured where to go.

“Our local culture still hasn't integrated with the Guggenheim,” said Alfonso Martínez Cearra, the general manager of Bilbao Metropoli-30, a public-private partnership that is guiding the city's revitalization. “This is still an industrial city.”

The disconnect between Bilbao the brand, and Bilbao the city was on display one Saturday night, when the narrow streets of Casco Viejo were once again packed with young bar-hoppers. The smell of marijuana wafted from a crowd outside a bar on Calle de Somera. In the group was Ikel, a 22-year-old studying to be an engineer, like his father.

“I've never been to the Guggenheim,” Ikel said between puffs, as mechanical street cleaners starting scrubbing beer and urine from the cobblestones. “It's for tourists.”

To my knowledge, no one is offering Frank Gehry or an architect that I prefer, such as Santiago Calatrava, to Pittsburgh. That's OK with me. Much as I appreciate signature architecture, and much as I think that casinos and arenas shouldn't be regional priorities, I don't think that Pittsburgh needs to experience the Bilbao effect.

D*&mned Pittsburgh Drivers!

It's tempting to tell the author of this little screed, complaining about Pittsburgh drivers, that Minneapolis isn't quite the big city that she thinks it is. For a taste of real rude driving, move to New York. Or Boston. Pittsburgh is positively genteel by comparison.

But I won't tell her that, because I re-read this phrase from the piece: "After recently moving here from Minnesota to work and attend the University of Pittsburgh, . . ."

She moved here from another state? Welcome! Hope you like it! Glad to have you here! Have any friends who'd live to move in, too?

Pitt's Bytes 9.20.07

An overdue Pitt's Bytes, consisting of news from the world of Pittsburgh economic development infrastructure:

The fact that there is news at all is interesting. Usually, Pittsburgh's ED infrastructure (pun intended) is bloated and inert. There are too many intermediary chefs, as illustrated in part by this post, and not enough entrepreneurial chiefs, that is, people willing to run with the ball, provoke the establishment, and generally raise hell.

So:

One: There is another intermediary chef on the scene: HELP, which sponsored a party on the North Shore last Tuesday (sorry I couldn't come!), has a spiffy new website for entrepreneurs looking for information. Here's the site. Spiffy design; sorry about the thin content; and especially sorry that you have to register to access most of it. How about just sharing the news?

Two: The Pittsburgh Technology Council formally announced its new CEO yesterday: Audrey Russo, coming over from MAYA Design. Like the Allegheny Conference, the PTC has been missing in action for some time, an organization with a public identity but without a clear public purpose. With a typically bland recitation of the accomplishments of the new appointee, the PTC press release doesn't help matters. But I heard an interview with her yesterday on WDUQ, and she sounded ready to revive the PTC's role in the region as more than a service organization for its members. In other words, the PTC can be an advocate for local technology interests, speaking to outside audiences. The local technology community desperately needs someone or something to speak loudly and provocatively about the promise that the tech sector holds. (The tech community isn't the only group in this position, of course.) Once upon a time, I think, the PTC aspired to that role. For the last several years, as this comment confirms, the PTC has been focused on growing its membership base and providing services and programming to its members. I hope that Audrey Russo will do more.

By the way, what's with the CEO title? Why does everyone in Pittsburgh have to be a CEO? What's wrong with being an Executive Director? Wait. Don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question.

Three: A re-energized PTC might be a good thing, but the most interesting local ED news in recent months has been the emergence of the local foundation community as a playere in economic development. Check out the list of sponsors and supporters of things like the new HELP web portal. There are some usual Pittsburgh suspects there, but some uncommon ones as well, and the HELP portal is far from the only example of this. The Heinz Endowments funded a new economic development position at Carnegie Mellon. My earlier critique of the ImaginePittsburgh request for marketing proposals landed a little wide of the mark. It turns out that this particular initiative is collaborative in name but came out of the foundation space, not the AC. That's not to say that there isn't more room to add more non-traditional seats to the regional marketing table.

I'm not sure why the foundations are jumping in, other than the fact that they, along with some other major not-for-profit institutions, likely share the broader frustration with the inaction and/or ineffectiveness of the usual private sector suspects. The Allegheny Conference appears to have its eggs in the Pittsburgh 250 basket. There's nothing wrong with throwing a nice party, but there's a barn to be built, folks. Meanwhile, as one local shaker told me recently, "Tim McNulty [at CMU] is kicking butt." I've been hearing good noises about tech and business at Duquesne University. Watch for more of this.

Food for Pittsburgh Thought

A couple of years ago, I stopped posting Mt. Lebanon-related items here, because most of the highs and lows of that suburb -- of any particular suburb -- are of little interest to readers of a blog focused more on bigger picture regional issues.

Once in a while, however, I can't resist. This is one of those times. Down at Blog-Lebo, we have the most interesting online kerfuffle that I've seen in a long time that doesn't have something to do with the schools. It's a microcosmic version of a discussion that is going on all over the region, in all kinds of contexts.

The issue is this: How much should a restaurant charge for a glass of wine?

Of course, that's only the very, very narrow version of the issue, but the speed with which the narrow question broadened to embrace much bigger things -- how to support and encourage local business; how to deal with customers who critique your work; how to support and encourage risk-taking in Pittsburgh; how to develop "better" cultural assets for the region -- is fascinating. These are all Pittsburgh themes, not just Mt. Lebanon themes.

The background is this: Mt. Lebanon hosts a very nice little restaurant called Iovino's Cafe. I've eaten there. The food is very good. By design, the decor and ambiance are spare. It's BYOB. A friend of mine and three of his friends ate dinner there recently. They took a bottle of wine. They were charged a $4 "stem fee" for their four glasses. One bottle, four people, $16. They thought that the $4 fee was excessive, in context. I posted that I agreed. And the comments started to come in, some defending Iovino's, some not.

Read the whole thing here.

UPDATE 9/20: There's more. Read this.

Putting the Pop in Pop City

I went to the first "Pop City Live!" conversation last night at the New Hazlett Theatre and came away unchanged.

This was a moderated panel titled "The First, the Best and the Only." How to make Pittsburgh better, hipper, snappier -- hot.

The speakers were energetic and thoughtful. The theater was mostly full. There was free wine and beer afterward.

Little was said or heard that has not been said or heard before, on this blog, on other blogs, in board rooms and classrooms and buses and bars around Pittsburgh. There was even a gratuitous Chris Briem reference, and an even more gratuitous Pittsblog reference. There's no harm at all in saying these things again (that is, "let's get out there everyone and break down those barriers; Pittsburgh sure would be a wonderful place if only we can mobilize everyone!"), and there's some virtue in repeating it publicly and loudly and often. And (portent of posts to come) a few of the players are welcome additions to the conversation.

But there was a faint undertone of Pittsburgh's Waiting for Godot problem. There were 250 souls in the New Hazlette Theatre last night, and it felt distinctly like they were waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

Best line I heard all night: Pittsburgh will only emerge from its painful collective insecurity when it stops worrying about its painful collective insecurity.

To paraphrase Yoda, just do. Or do not.

Finding a Professional Job in Pittsburgh

I hear anecdotes from time to time from people struggling to find professional employment in Pittsburgh. Breaking into the local networks can be difficult enough; even getting local firms to return your phone calls and messages turns out to be a problem. Does this city want to grow and thrive, or what?

Frustrated, voiceless job seekers now have an online voice. Take a look at Mary's blog, Searching for a Job in Pittsburgh.

What Becomes a City Most?

Culled from my reading over the last month: This piece in the Economist, about the Orange County suburb of Cerritos:

Of course, many American cities have built parks, performing-arts centres and fancy libraries while struggling financially. The key to Cerritos's success may be the timing of its investments. Cities such as Cleveland and Baltimore poured money into museums and other grand projects in the vain hope that they would lure businesses and young, creative folk. Cerritos began by building pipelines and roads, then moved on to business parks, policing and schools (including California's best high school). Only when it was rolling in money did it break out the titanium.

Local officials attribute the city's success to fiscal discipline and the ability to follow a long-term plan. That, in turn, is the result of its political culture. Cerritos has a tradition of powerful, long-serving city managers, to whom local politicians frequently defer. As Laura Lee, the mayor, explains, “There are many things we, as elected officials, do not understand.” Voters, it seems, like this arrangement greatly. In a 2002 poll, an astonishing 96% of residents said they were satisfied with the provision of public services.

As a later letter writer (from Baltimore) pointed out, it's much easier to build anew than it is to rebuild the old, and places like Cleveland and Baltimore (and Pittsburgh) face the second challenge, not the first. Still, as Bill Toland puzzles through the "hotness" factor in his latest Diaspora Report, there is something to be said for the idea that foundation work (in the building sense, not the giving grants sense) is itself an attraction. In a different context last week, I wrote elsewhere that Pittsburgh may never attract that Gen Y contingent looking for cocktails and panache. Pittsburgh may and should attract that contingent looking for a place where it can lift a bucket and wield a shovel, metaphorically speaking, urban adventurers looking for a place that needs help and a place where they can make a difference.

Pitt's Bytes 9.03.07 - Labor Day Edition

The launch party for HelpStartups.com, sponsored by HELP -- Helping Entrepreneurs Learn from Peers -- is slated for Tuesday, September 18 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at McFadden's, in the new Equitable Building on the North Shore, between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Register at http://www.helpstartups.com. The event is free and open to the public. . . . The next Project Olympus show-and-tell, originally scheduled for that same day, has been re-set for Tuesday, September 25 at 3:30 p.m. . . . Like him or hate him, the Steelers' new mascot, "Steely McBeam," is on its way to becoming a case study in how 20th century marketing tactics are doomed in a 21st century environment. New economy companies take note! More soon in a separate post. . . . Also coming to Pittsblog: A follow-up to this critique of the latest Pittsburgh Vision Thing. Is Pittsburgh's traditional leadership elite ready to open source regional renewal? What does that mean to area technology companies? The answers may surprise you . . . .

Nuggets from the most recent HELP Newsletter: The Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association is taking applications for presentations by seed and early-stage companies at its monthly lunches. Apply here . . . TiEPgh presents an "Entrepreneurs' Base Camp" titled "Scaling Peaks" on the CMU Campus on Saturday, Sept. 22. Register here. . . . The Duquesne University SBDC (Small Business Development Center) has assembled an impressive series of programs for new and current small business owners. Check out the list here. . . .

Pop City Media is hosting a live event with Grant Oliphant of the Heinz Endowments: "The First, the Best and the Only." September 10, 2007 at 6:30 pm @ the New Hazlett Theatre. It's free. Rsvp to rsvp@popcitymedia.com. The pitch: "Our moderator, Grant Oliphant, and panel of experts on cities and the talent that drives them, will engage in a lively discussion, with audience participation, on how Pittsburgh might build on our unique assets to propel Pittsburgh to become a 'hot' city." Unique? Best? Hot? The rah-rah boosterism is a little over-the-top. I'm skeptical, but I'm willing to listen, since Grant Oliphant has good things to say. See you there.

Pittsburgh Pride

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claims to be "One of America's Great Newspapers," but practice and theory haven't aligned in a long time. It's a good paper, with some excellent writers, but it reeks of Pittsburgh insecurity. The hometown boosterism just wears me out.

Until today. In my home-delivered Final Edition this morning, I read a long wire service-produced feature about Rick Rich Skrenta, the Mt. Lebanon native who produced the very first computer virus as a Lebo HS student 25 years ago. (One of America's Great Newspapers ran its story only six weeks after Pittsblog covered the same item.)

What is really notable in the print edition, however, is that the P-G apparently did not edit the copy to highlight Rick's Rich's Pittsburgh connection. "Mt. Lebanon Senior High School" is included, but no reference to "Pittsburgh native" or "Mt. Lebanon native" Rick Rich Skrenta. There is none of the "local boy makes good" highlighting that you always read, for example, when "Greensburg native Rocco Mediate" (his full, legal name, I think) plays golf somewhere.

Is this progress? Am I reading news-for-the-sake-of-news rather than news-of-the-homeboy? Or were the P-G's business editors asleep at the switch?

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Imagine my disappointment when I looked up the on-line version. The copy is still free of any Pittsburgh inflection, but the hed has been changed: "Viruses started as prank for teen in Mt. Lebanon".